Business promotion is a broad marketing term that includes all methods companies use to promote visibility for products, services, events, and brands. It includes concepts like advertisements, efforts like campaigns, and items like branded giveaway products. There are multiple categories into which your promotions can fall, including:

Personal selling: Consumer and company relationship building tactics, such as trust and loyalty, through marketing, sales, and customer service
Sales promotions: Discounts, giveaways, free services, contests, and coupons
Public relations: Planned efforts, such as sponsoring a charity fun run, to maintain a positive brand image with the public as a whole Above the line promotions: Traditional and online advertising.

Promotion vs. Advertising
While some marketing and finance teams may use the terms promotion and advertising interchangeably, they aren’t the same thing. Advertising is one specific type of promotion. It’s a single action you take to promote a product or service. Generally, advertising refers to controlled or paid media messages.

In contrast, promotion is the sum of all efforts your company undertakes to increase consumer awareness of its products and services.